Multnomah-Wahkeena Loop in early June

I'm finally down to the last "top 10" hike recap of my 2021 list.  This trek took place in early June, when the Gorge was at its peak of spring greenery and wildflower bloom.  Looking for a quick midweek hike option, I went with the tried and true Multnomah-Wahkeena Loop.

Small waterfall above Multnomah Falls

This was another excursion with my favorite midweek hiking friends, Debbie and Barry (it's so nice to have other retired people that can join me on weekday adventures!)  They also were looking for a short, close-to-town outing and this trail definitely fit the bill.  And although the Multnomah-Wahkeena loop is wildly popular with weekend hikers, weekdays are much calmer crowd-wise.

Everything is so green!

Although the loop can be started at either Multnomah or Wahkeena Falls, today we opted to begin at Multnomah Falls and get the steep climb to the top of this cascade's 620 foot drop over with first.  The viewing platform was full of tourists, so we powered through the crowds quickly and I didn't get one photo of Oregon's most famous (and tallest) waterfall.  But that was ok, I'd taken many, many images of Multnomah Falls over the years.

Large overhanging cliff

A paved path followed the cliff beside Multnomah Falls, zigzagging steeply uphill for 1.1 miles.  The 2017 Eagle Creek fire burned through this area, charring many trees, but also opening up views of the Columbia River below.  The trail cruelly counts the switchbacks, which adds to the misery of this climb.  Each switchback had a sign bearing it's number (for the record, there are 11) and reaching the last one seemed to take forever.  After finally flattening out at the top, the asphalt ended and the dirt began, taking my friends and I across a delightful, mossy stone bridge spanning Multnomah Creek.  We then began climbing again, this time thankfully on a much gentler slope.

Weisendanger Falls

The trail followed Multnomah Creek, just a stone's throw away from its rushing rapids.  After passing one small cascade, my friends and I wandered underneath a large rock overhang, where our trail veered right next to the water.  On the other side of this high cliff, we got our first glimpse of lovely Weisendanger Falls.  Although having a mere drop of 50 feet (as compared to Multnomah's whopping 620) it was still impressive, flowing down the middle of a tall rock amphitheater.  

Climbing higher

Although the Eagle Creek fire had also burned through this area, the vegetation had recovered quite nicely.  Cliff walls, slopes, and creek areas were all bursting with greenery.  Ferns, grasses, bushes and wildflowers covered nearly every spot of ground (except for the trail, that is.)  The only indication that there'd been a wildfire was the abundance of charred trees, their blackened trunks a solemn reminder of the past destruction.

Wildflowers at the top of Ecola Falls

I love hiking the trail above Multnomah Falls, not only for scenic Multnomah Creek but also because there are two more cascades just as stunning as their taller cousin.  After Weisendanger Falls, we followed the creek uphill for a glimpse of the very top of Ecola Falls, a 55-foot beauty.  And bonus - there was a patch of vibrant yellow wildflowers lining the trail at this viewpoint.

Charred remnants of the 2017 fire

After 3/4 miles of more uphill travel, my friends and I came upon the junction with the Wahkeena Trail.  Leaving Multnomah Creek behind, we climbed steadily up a ridge full of more blackened trunks and ghostly gray dead trees.

Columbine everywhere!

Debbie and Barry are avid birders.  One of the reasons I like hiking with them is they are constantly on the lookout for birds, and almost always spot some type of interesting species on our hikes.  This time Barry discovered a couple of woodpeckers (I don't remember what type) hammering away at the blackened trees.  Apparently woodpeckers love old burned trees - these trees must be hosts for insects they like.

The burn area is recovering nicely

Despite all the destruction, we were about to stumble upon one of the bright spots of burn areas - wildflowers.  Just a short quarter mile up the Wahkeena Trail we began to see huge clusters of color poking out from underneath the vegetation.  Hundreds and hundreds of bright orange columbine blooms lined our trail.

More trailside wildflowers

Here's a sampling of the beautiful columbine flowers I photographed:

Pretty columbine bloom

Another columbine bloom

After passing the columbine blooms, we walked through an especially brushy area of the trail.  In amongst the greenery were hundreds, if not thousands of vibrant purple larkspur flowers, their tall stalks pushing high up above the bushes.

Larkspur

Oh. My. Goodness!  None of us had ever seen such a high concentration of larkspur in bloom!

Tons of larkspur along this portion of the trail

Of course all forward progress ground to a screeching halt, as cameras and cell phones were brought out to capture these wonderful wildflowers.  It was quite a show!

Wildflowers make for happy hikers!

It was the most wildflowers I'd ever seen here.  The larkspur blooms lined the trail for at least a good quarter mile.  Definitely the highlight of our hike!

I'd never seen so much larkspur in bloom

Another good thing that comes from wildfires - the ash from the fire makes for rich soil that supports the regrowth of ground cover and wildflowers.

Larkspur and Gorge views

After much photography and oohing and aahing, my friends and I finally tore ourselves away from the flower fest, and continued our hike.

Another larkspur photo

We passed by an area of huge old-growth trees that were thankfully spared from the fire.  My favorite tree of the bunch was an ancient Douglas Fir whose bark has been slowly growing around a very old trail sign.  The tree has been around forever, and I've nicknamed it the "sign-eating tree."

Sign-eating tree

One of my favorite places on this loop is Wahkeena Springs.  A magical area where water seems to bubble out of the ground, lined by tons of moss and gnarled old cedar trees.  It's the perfect spot for a lunch break.  And when we reached this spot, it's exactly what my friends and I did.

Wahkeena Spring

I'd been nursing a slight headache since late morning.  I hardly ever had headaches, so during our lunch break I did something I almost never do - I downed a couple of ibuprofen tablets.  Probably allergies causing my sinuses to ache, I reasoned.  After lunch was done, we continued on, my headache a tiny bit better, the meds starting to do their job. 

Bridge over Wahkeena Creek

The last leg of the day's journey was taking the Wahkeena Trail down hill, this time following Wahkeena Creek.  We passed charming Fairy Falls, but there was a large group of people at the waterfall already, so my friends and I marched past without taking any photos (again, I had lots of photos of this cascade from past visits).  Then I paused at the scenic bridge over Wahkeena Creek and made my friends pose for a couple of pics. 

Lemmon viewpoint

Before the Wahkeena trail switchbacks steeply downhill to the trailhead stands an impressive vantage, called Lemmon Viewpoint.  From this perch, one can see both directions down the Columbia River and across to the Washington side of the Gorge.  We stopped here for a couple of photos and soaked in the views.  I also got distracted by a nearby patch of gorgeous orange tiger lilies, one of my favorite wildflowers.

Tiger lilies blooming nearby

Then it was a quick downhill march on the paved switchbacks of the Wahkeena Trail.  Once we reached this trailhead, a half mile connector path took my friends and I back to the Multnomah Falls parking lot, where we'd parked.  On this final stretch I had one last wildflower sighting, some stunning purple penstemon blooms, which were captured on my memory card.

Penstemon patch to complete our wildflower sightings

The numerous and beautiful wildflower blooms on this trail was one of the reasons this hike made my "top ten" list.  The other reason?  Remember that headache I had on the trail?  Two days later I was in urgent care seeking treatment for a splitting headache that I thought was a bad sinus infection.  A week later I'd have surgery for what was finally diagnosed to be a brain abscess.  I'd unknowingly hiked that trail with the beginnings of an infection in my brain!  This jaunt on the Multnomah-Wahkeena trail ended up being the last hike I did for nearly three months.  (If you somehow missed the entire story on my brain abscess diagnosis and treatment you can find it here.)

So there you have it - recaps of all my top ten hikes for 2021.  Now to work on posts for some of the hikes I've done this month - I've explored a couple of new trails already.  Check back soon, subscribe with your email address (see my blog sidebar), or like my "Linda's Lens Blog" Facebook page so you don't miss anything!